[@joerogan] Joe Rogan Experience #2359 - Mike Maxwell

Link: https://youtu.be/ajMlhHjt3gk

Short Summary

Executive Summary: This Joe Rogan Experience podcast episode features artist Mike Maxwell, discussing the importance of hard work and dedication in honing one's craft, whether it be art or jiu-jitsu. The conversation touches on creativity, problem-solving, the role of community, the benefits of discipline, and also delves into broader topics like fame, politics, and societal issues.

Most Important Action Item/Takeaway: Focus on the process and dedicate yourself to the work; the rewards will follow.

Key Quotes

Here are 3 quotes that stand out from the provided transcript:

1. Mike Maxwell: "For me, like my whole like art experience has just been like make the work and whatever the [ __ ] happens afterwards is just all bonus, you know?" This quote encapsulates a pure artistic ethos, prioritizing the act of creation over external validation or commercial success.

2. Mike Maxwell: "Like there'll be a moment where it's like I could feel something's not right and then like I can't consciously think of okay well I need to do A and C but it's kind of like I sit and wait and something tells me right..." Rogan adds, "...so many people including authors in particular they they talk about the exact same kind of process. It's like something just comes to you." This highlights the often-mysterious and intuitive nature of the creative process.

3. Joe Rogan: "And the reason why Shane Gillis is the number one comic in the world is because he works hard and he's really [ __ ] funny and the process yields an amazing result and he's so sincere. Super sincere. But the point is like he doesn't give a [ __ ] about fame. Like he's not trying to get famous." This quote underscores Rogan's belief that authenticity and dedication to the craft, rather than a pursuit of fame, are the key ingredients for success in comedy.

Detailed Summary

Here's a detailed summary of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast with guest Mike Maxwell, focusing on key topics, arguments, and information, excluding sponsorship announcements:

• Introduction and Background:

  • Mike Maxwell is an artist who created the JRE logo and a recent painting featuring Quentin Tarantino.
  • The creation of the JRE logo happened approximately 15 years ago.
  • Mike Maxwell stresses that his art career has been driven by focusing on the work itself, with any subsequent success considered a bonus.

• The Nature of Artistic Talent and Hard Work:

  • Talent is not solely "God-given" but requires hard work and dedication.
  • Developing artistic technique involves fine hand-eye coordination and the ability to reproduce exactly what you see, all achieved through practice.
  • Maxwell asserts that continuous improvement is possible even after decades of experience.

• The Creative Process:

  • Maxwell describes his creative process as a compilation of separate drawings.
  • Sometimes the painting seems to "paint itself" after the initial prep work, almost dictating its own direction, requiring a disconnect from conscious thought.
  • He likens the artistic process to how authors describe characters "coming to life" and dictating the story.

• Influence of Substances on Creativity (Hunter S. Thompson Example):

  • Speculation on why Stephen King and Hunter S. Thompson did some of their best work while using drugs. They suggests it might be because drugs allow them to get out of their own heads.
  • Hunter S. Thompson's writing is praised for cutting to the core of society, even his later work (Hey Rube).
  • However, long-term drug use is considered unsustainable, leading to neurological damage and a deficiency in dopamine.

• Dopamine and Addiction:

  • Discussion about how crack addicts cook their dopamine and serotonin receptors, leading to depression and the need for drugs just to feel normal.
  • Personal anecdote about a past summer of frequent LSD use as a teenager and speculation about its potential lasting effects on creativity or perception.
  • Steve Jobs' LSD experience and its influence on his perspective are mentioned.

• Hunter S. Thompson and David Mccumber:

  • David Mccumber was Hunter S. Thompson's editor, who also co-wrote a book about a pool hustler.
  • Thompson's erratic behavior and difficulties meeting deadlines, culminating in a destroyed fax machine.

• Early Internet and Memes:

  • Discussion about the early days of the internet and the first memes, likely around 1999-2000.
  • Memes required technical understanding of Photoshop.
  • The "dancing baby" is identified as one of the earliest internet memes.

• Persistence Hunting:

  • Human's ability to run animals to exhaustion, also known as persistence hunting.
  • Human beings have sweat glands which allow them to run for a long time without overheating.

• Jiu-Jitsu as a Rewarding Challenge:

  • Jiu-jitsu is described as the opposite of boring, providing mental benefits and attracting people of good character.
  • Commonality and camaraderie among those who have practiced jiu-jitsu for many years.
  • Rogan and Maxwell share their experiences starting jiu-jitsu in the mid-1990s at Carlson Gracie's gym, training with Vitor Belfort, Mario Sperry, and other Brazilian fighters.

• Teaching jiu-jitsu:

  • Maxwell shares that he is now a black belt and teaches Jiu-Jitsu.

• Origin of the JRE Logo:

  • Maxwell created a poster for a comedy show with Ari Shaffir, Tony Hinchcliffe, and Duncan Trussell, which became the graphic for the JRE logo.
  • Recognition of how the logo is now ubiquitous and "disconnected" from its creator.

• Approach to Creativity: Process vs. Goals:

  • Both Rogan and Maxwell value the process of creation over setting specific goals.
  • They focus on putting energy into the work itself rather than envisioning specific outcomes.
  • Painting is described as a form of meditation, inducing a clear mind and hyperfocused state.
  • The act of finishing a painting produces a dopamine reward.

• Aderall and Xanax:

  • Discussion on the use of adderall to concentrate and how people are taking Xanax to get off of Aderall.

• Muay Thai and Frustration vs. Jiu-Jitsu and Humor:

  • Maxwell recounts his experience with Muay Thai. He found that he was getting frustrated during his practice, and found himself getting punched in the face a lot.
  • In contrast, when getting caught in a jiu-jitsu move, he would laugh, highlighting a different mental approach.

• Humbling Experience with Jiu-Jitsu:

  • First class at the Nogiera gym where Maxwell was hip tossed by a purple belt which led to him becomming a black belt.
  • Feeling that Jiu-Jitsu would be good to know if the world ever fell apart.

• Fun Jiu-Jitsu:

  • Rogan jokes that if he ever opened up a jiu-jitsu gym, he would call it Fun Jiu-Jitsu.

• The Importance of Understanding the Limitations of your talent.:

  • Knowing what you have accomplished when you are limited.

• Street Fights:

  • Rogan and Maxwell describe the number of fights that they have been around. Rogan states that he has been around world class fighters getting into fights.
  • Rogan stopped a street fight where a guy was getting choked out by whispering in his ear to let go.

• The UFC's Apex Center:

  • Seeing Francis vs Stipe at the Apex Center was wild. Without all the cheering, it sounds so much more intense.

• Fighter Confidence:

  • Guys like Ilia Tapora walks into the ring with extreme confidence. He has not a doubt in his mind that he has already won.

• Innate Talents with High Level Martial Arts:

  • Recounts seeing John Lee practice Taekwondo as a youth and being changed by it.
  • There are just some people that are freakish and have power that just comes easy to them.
  • Biology has everything to do with the power people have.

• Benefits of getting Mauled by Small Person in Jiu-Jitsu:

  • Getting mauled by smaller person teaches you that it isn't about strength, it's about skill, knowledge, and technique.
  • Need to have technique down so perfectly that the other person can't get out.

• Leg Extensions:

  • Discuss doing leg extensions for knee stability and helping extend legs for Butterfly Guard.

• TRT:

  • Rogan recommends Maxwell gets his blood checked and gets on TRT because it really starts to go south after a while.

• Impact of cutting Sugar:

  • Cutting sugar has a humongous impact.
  • Dopamine fix with sugar.

• Being Impulsive when tired:

  • When you are tired, you will make the worst decisions. The part of your brain impulses you to go for foods that are bad for you.

• Starvation:

  • How our bodies use to have to hunt and wait for our food, so intermittent fasting helps our bodies perform better and not get famished.
  • Also, our bodies will start to burn the fat we have stored after the body gets adjusted to the intermittent fasting.

• The Focus of being at painting makes him forget he has a body:

  • Focus keeps you locked into what you're doing.
  • The body separates from the mind in some way.

• Creative Problem Solving:

  • Asks himself questions.
  • Subconscious way the brain helps you get out of problems.
  • Comes up with solutions to problems that he does not know the solution to.

• Stealing the Muse

  • Discuss the war of art and summing the Muse. Being on time, bringing your heart.

• Not everyone can be the same thing.

  • ADHD medication is given to a kid who was going to be a great artist.

• Commercials lie:

  • commercials show everyone in a field of wheat dancing. That isn't going to bring you true happiness.

• The Hub for Development:

  • The Hub for young people to develop Comedy is at the Comedian clubs where people get together to do comedy.

• Value of Comedy and Art that comes from a Genuine Space vs. what the system values.

  • Relaxing because they are just people in Austin. Nobody's trying to get famous.
  • Shane Gillis is successful because he's funny and works hard, not because he wants fame.
  • Fame is something people hate. People have to be uncomfortable.

• Phones are kept in Faraday Bags to help with creativity:

  • Forces people to be more direct and honest.
  • Allows the audience to lock in and get creative.
  • New material needs time to develop and if someone videotapes it then puts it up, it screws up the whole process.

• Three different Processes:

  • The onstage writing process.
  • The writing process in your head.
  • The tricky one which is the idea process.

• People aren't just locked into an Upper class Society

  • They have to associate with everybody.

• Favorite comedian fighting stuff inside of their Head.

  • All of their favorite comedians fought demons of some sort, whether it was Richard Prior, Bill Hicks or Richard Prior, they were all dealing with something bad.

• How they all protect themself:

  • All have a process that they use to stay on the hard work and away from self destructive paths.

• Anxiety:

  • You are worried about all the possibilities because you're intelligent enough to recognize all the possibilities.

• Why people like to do Martial Arts

  • If you don't learn about yourself, you are always going to wonder.

• Politicians:

  • Nobody who wants to be president should ever be president.
  • Human greed is too strong.

• Nancy Pelosi:

  • Became rich on the inside and they all just deflected anything back to Trump.

• Politics

  • Politics is like they are all a Black belt.

• Politicians Insider Trade:

  • They have to find out who is willing to actually change the policy. Then who is going to be playing chicken.

• People Rig the primaries:

  • Bernie sanders got rigged and RFK got rigged.

• Shift with Republicans are now into Free speech

  • Republicans now want the wars to end. They don't want to contribute to foreign countries.

• You can’t train wolves

  • They’re not in the circus because they don’t listen to anything, but you can turn the wolves into dogs.
  • And the dogs you can train to say sit.

• Moths and spiders trick you:

  • The color of a moth’s eyes trick you.

• No right way to live this thing

  • Ask yourself how bad do you really want it and then go for it.

• Jiu-Jitsu

  • Do this every day but smart.

• Best time is when you are a Coach

  • Missing key part of developing is to become a teacher.

• The Importance to get what ever you want it, you need the process:

  • Find the things you like, to actually be on the career path.

• Artist all way, and not the class rules

  • Art is the way.

• How do they not train?

  • We are trying to help share, so that we can give back